Where’s my red Swingline stapler?

And, no, you don’t need a cover sheet for your TPS Reports . . . .

Several weeks ago, as you may remember (or not), I started giving myself a plethora of busy work in order to avoid rearranging the living room to accommodate several computers that used to live there; the computers with which I do testing, (very) low-level developing and generally a lot of digital goofing off.

But with the availability of office space behind the Felton Trading Post in downtown Felton, California, I have moved the herd of computers — and my operations — out of my living room and into the cozy confines behind Kelly’s store and as a neighbor to the trading post’s other tenant, Melanie the bookseller.

So now, from the one-stoplight town six miles north of Santa Cruz and among the old-growth redwoods, I have set up shop. At 6396 Highway 9, Felton CA 95018 (phone number to come), the following entites are open for business: Open Source and Free Software Reporter, a publication keeping up as best it can with FOSS developments; the Tux Project, a national soon-to-be nonprofit promotional clearing house for all things GNU/Linux; and HeliOS Solutions West, serving the western United States as a model for franchisees to offer GNU/Linux installation and support services (as well as providing Santa Cruz County with the same services).

If you’re in the area, stop by. We’ll keep a pot of coffee on for you.

(Larry Cafiero, editor/publisher of Open Source Reporter, is an associate member of the Free Software Foundation.)

I CAN HAS FREEZOFTWARE?

Forgive me for my ignorance. But I cannot fathom how a site like this garners the amount of eyeballs it gets, meaning millions. “I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER” — for those of you who have been living in a cave until now — takes pictures of cats, puts nearly undecipherable “English” onto the photos with cutesy sayings, and passes itself off as modern culture.

Okay, he says, taking steps backwards cautiously . . . .

I bring this up because in the realm of GNU/Linux, there is an effort afoot to promote the operating system — a few actually — and they seem to be gaining some solid footing. One is the Tux Project, in which I am involved, which will be gaining nonprofit status soon. This project acts as a vehicle to promote GNU/Linux where the larger corporate distros can’t — or won’t — promote the operating system, generally speaking.

The Tux Project joins other efforts already in place from the likes of  The *Nixed Report, which is trying to get air time on the radio for GNU/Linux, and GetGNULinux.com, which is flying the FOSS flag in Europe (which, incidentally, is responsible for pointing me to the source of most of the buttons below).

These are only a couple of examples of how some groups are getting GNU/Linux out there. There are others, and while they are taking more conventional routes, perhaps having a site with cute kitty photos with bizarre English, and calling it I CAN HAS FREEZOFTWARE might do better.

Or not.

(Larry Cafiero, editor/publisher of Open Source Reporter, is an associate member of the Free Software Foundation.)